Recently, one of my friends sent me the article by Joey Pethan titled, “Campus Ambassador or Campus Salesman?” asking if I knew anything about it. I was a campus ambassador and did know Joey in that role. I was genuinely stunned by his interpretation of this job and the misinformation in his article, so I’m writing to correct some of his false claims.
Let me get one thing straight – I didn’t have a perfect experience as a campus ambassador either. Should CA’s get paid more for the work they do? Absolutely, but that’s not in the hands of the staff at the Office of Undergraduate Admissions. I know for a fact OUA has genuinely tried to raise CA’s wages for years. Did I love all the decisions management made? Of course not, but no job is perfect. Some things needed a lot of work, other things were incredible. I’m in no way trying to devalue Joey’s personal experiences, but I’d like to set the record straight. With that disclaimer out of the way, let’s get into the corrections.
Yes, customer service is a huge part of being a CA. Yes, rude parents were still treated kindly. Yes, walk-ins were often added to tours even if they were full. One time, I gave a 40-person tour which is twice the capacity of a typical tour. When I had to step up and take a hit from a rude family or swap shifts last minute to cover someone’s tour, I was always reassured by management that they were incredibly thankful and proud. Any job I’ve had in customer service has functioned this way. It’s not unusual to treat a poor customer nicely and refrain from making inappropriate jokes – it’s your job.
When I was a CA we were taught to never lie about the school, but instead be positive and share personal experiences. For example, if a parent asked me how to ensure their student finished school in four years, I would start out by saying, “We have some really great academic advisors. I have two, and they’ve helped me stay on track so I’m sure yours would do the same. Taking AP classes or community college courses in your hometown can help too. With that being said, it’s okay to take an extra semester or two to graduate. Five years is becoming the new norm, so there’s no shame in taking your time. If there’s a financial issue with paying for an extra year, our financial aid office has walk in hours fairly often and your student can discuss FAFSA, scholarships, and payment plans.”
That question isn’t particularly negative or difficult to answer, and I definitely dealt with harder conversations than that as a CA. I’ve been asked questions like, “Is this still a suitcase school?” or “It’s not safe here! Why would you ever let Freshman live so far from campus in Cambridge and Riverview?” When these topics came up, I would share my genuine experiences – NOT “sell” the school. I’d mention that I personally go home four to five times a year at max as do most of my friends. I would talk about how I’ve never felt unsafe on campus or around the city along with mentioning safe phones, campus and local police departments, services like B.O.S.S., Safe Walkers, etc.
I want to highlight something Joey mentioned in his article. He said, “CA’s are bending over backwards to make sure that people’s experiences are everything they had imagined.” I wholeheartedly agree with that sentence. CA’s work incredibly hard to showcase the school, be accommodating and go the extra mile for tour guests. Need directions to your information session over in PSOA? We’ll walk you there and chat with you about your day. Nervous about the admissions process? Let us grab an admissions counselor to walk you through it. Don’t have enough time to meet with an advisor from the nursing department? I’ll find a CA in the office that happens to be a nursing major you can talk to. That’s not selling the school. That’s being an outstanding employee.
When I first started the job as a CA, I was told by my boss, “We talk about the school in a specific way to let people know exactly what they’re getting. If you want a small private school out in the country, we’re probably not for you. Even though we talk positively about UWM and our experiences here, people will form their opinions based on what they’re looking for. Be honest, we’re not here to sell anything.” I believe that was, and still is, the way CA’s execute their tours. In fact, I used to end every one of my tours by saying, “If you absolutely hated this school, good! I’m so glad you found that out, and now you have one less school to worry about applying to. If you absolutely loved this school, great! We’d love to have you here. The reality is, most schools will have good academics. They wouldn’t be a school if they didn’t, so pick the school that feels like home to you.”
Lastly, like I said before, being a CA wasn’t always amazing. I had complaints similar to Joey’s from time to time. That doesn’t mean the job is inherently bad. I have some amazing memories from that office, and I’m still very close friends with a few old coworkers. I hope this clears things up for anyone who may have stumbled upon Joey’s article. Next time you see a CA giving a tour, shoot them a smile and say hi to the tour group. They deserve a little extra respect for all they do.
Disclaimer: The story above doesn’t reflect the opinion of the UWM Post, the university or its student body as a whole. It is an expression of opinion of an individual and should be interpreted as such.